Alright, I'm getting mixed responses to the whole go-cart thing and to be honest I was having second thoughts about it myself. I was only gonna keep them in (and as I said before it was going to be really short) because I had mentioned them in the summary and I didn't want to let anybody down. But the truth is I don't even know what I was gonna do with them exactly. So yah, sorry to those of you who really wanted them, but when I tried to write about them it was just too fluffy and the story really needs to move on past Vlad's new fun experiences.

I need to also say that the point of Danny taking Vlad out to do things like go-carts is not to make him act like a teenager; it's to make him relax, get his mind off bad stuff, and just have some fun. Vlad said he was going to act like a teenager (but he was partly joking) and we all know he can't pull it off which is why Danny was all smug. So don't worry, I will keep him as in-character as I can with all that's about to happen.

One last thing for Invader Johnny, the "um"s are hard to explain. Like if you could hear the way they were supposed to sound, it would make sense. See, they each said "um" twice, but only one of those was genuine, the other was a mocking response to the other's "um". I agree that it's somewhat out of character for Vlad to say "um," but at the same time he's not as confidant as he used to be in his speech. As for Danny, I thought he did say "um" sometimes . . . but maybe that's just me.

Jack was working in the lab with Maddie, one of his favorite things to do, you know, aside from eating fudge. He was making adjustments to his latest creation, though he wasn't quite sure yet what it was supposed to do, when Danny came tramping down the stairs. Jack knew that his son had been out all day with his friends and Vlad, something about go-carts and "revitalizing Vlad's being" and other psychological stuff that made Jack's head hurt. As if there weren't already enough of that coming from his daughter, now Danny seemed to be talking about it too. But Jack knew that Danny would remain true to his real passion: ghost fighting. Wouldn't he?

"Hey Sweetie, how did today go?" Maddie asked, glancing up from the weapon she was working on.

Danny hopped up to sit on the work table she was at and responded with a shrug. "It was okay. I don't know how much good it did for Vlad, but Tuck, Sam, and I sure needed it. Apparently, I had them really worried and stressed, you know, since Vlad came back. They needed to unwind."

"Well, that's good," Maddie said as she continued to fool around with the ecto-gun on the table, "Did they both go home, Sam and Tucker?"

"Yah, they've both got stuff to do tonight," Danny answered.

"So does that mean you need someone to go on patrol with you tonight?" Maddie looked up at her son and tried to tell him what she meant with her eyes.

"Well, I can just go by my-oh." Danny got the message as Maddie tilted her head in his dad's direction.

"Or Dad could come with me?" Maddie nodded to affirm that this was the right thing to do. Danny gave her a weak smile, but did as he was told. "Hey Dad," he said to make Jack turn around from where he was working across the room, "you wanna come with me on patrol tonight? We could take the RV."

"Really?" Jack's face lit up and Danny knew he was doing a very good thing by inviting him. He nodded.

"We can try out the new RV upgrades!" Jack continued excitedly, "Oh, you're gonna love 'em!"

"I'm sure I will," Danny replied giving his dad the sincerest smile he could manage.

Later that night, Danny sat in the passenger seat of the RV feeling grateful that so far it had been a ghost-free evening. His dad had finished showing him all the latest upgrades to the RV and now they sat in silence. Danny knew that his dad was probably hoping for the exact opposite of what he was hoping for. Just the two of them fighting off an evil ghost probably sounded good to his dad, but Danny thought it would be . . . well, awkward. After the last couple days, you would think he'd be an expert at awkward situations, but this one still made him anxious. His dad wasn't as good a shot as his mom and sometimes did make silly mistakes, though Danny would never call him incompetent like Vlad used to. It was just that he was used to, for the most part, fighting solo and he really didn't think his dad would go for the whole side-kick thing like Sam and Tuck did.

Danny watched as the digital clock on the RV's dashboard changed to 11:00pm. He opened his mouth to say that they could go home now and instead a blue mist came out. Perfect. Raising his head to see if his dad noticed, which he hadn't, Danny scanned the area and spotted two figures in the ally across the street from where they were parked. He groaned inwardly as he recognized the silhouettes of Skulker and Ember.

Jack looked over at his son and noticed he was staring intently at something out the window. Leaning closer, Jack saw that it was two of Danny's enemies.

"Isn't that-" he began, but Danny cut him off.

"Shh, yes." Danny was silent for a few seconds as he studied the two figures in the ally. "They're just talking," he observed. He was quiet for a few more moments. "Arguing actually . . . typical. But I think . . . I think they're looking for . . . me."

All of a sudden he watched as Ember's eyes widened and smacked Skulker on the shoulder. Then she pointed to the RV and shoved Skulker in its direction.

"They've spotted us," Jack pointed out as Ember made her way purposefully to the RV with Skulker close behind her. "What's our plan?" He looked at Danny.

Danny could see the excitement shining in his Dad's eyes, but Jack was trying really hard to keep it from reaching the rest of his features. "This isn't like them," Danny explained carefully, "Something's up." He paused to think for a beat, and then instructed his dad. "We approach with caution, but not threateningly. Skulker's a hunter and if he were hunting me, he'd have his guns cocked and ready. Since he doesn't I think we're safe to go in with our weapons down too. But things can change fast so be ready."

Jack gave a curt nod, his face all business. Danny nodded back and changed into his ghost form. They got out of the RV and met Skulker and Ember in the middle of the street. Danny folded his arms in front of his chest and put on a questioning but menacing look. Over his shoulder, he could tell his dad had stopped a few steps behind him, covering him. Maybe he could adjust to the role of side-kick.

"Looking for someone?" Danny asked icily.

"As a matter of fact, we were looking for you, whelp," Skulker responded with a slight grin.

"Mission accomplished then," Danny said flatly.

"Not quite, Dipstick," Ember spoke up, "that's actually only part of the mission."

"Really? Does the other part involve me kicking your butts back into the Ghost Zone?"

"Hey, there's no need for that," Skulker said testily, "We were sent to warn you about something. We're trying to do you a favor!"

"How nice of you," Danny continued in a guarded tone.

"Yes, it is," Skulker said, raising his voice and coming forward a bit, but Ember pushed him back.

"Both of you, quit it!" she shouted, looking back and forth at the death glares the two were exchanging. She turned her scowl on Skulker, "Just tell him already so we can go home!"

"Why do I have to explain it? You tell him," Skulker talked back, which of course did not go over too big with Ember. Her hair flamed as she began screaming in his face about how he can't boss her around. He talked back again and just like that they were embroiled in an argument, forgetting about Danny.

Danny sighed and uncrossed his arms with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey!" he shouted over their squabbling. They stopped and turned to face him. "It's been a long day. Can you please just get on with it? You can argue later!"

Now the two ghosts exchanged worried looks as they knew the next words out of their mouths would have to be the message or Danny would lose it.

"There's been . . . rumors," Skulker began slowly.

"Rumors that we're pretty sure are true, otherwise we wouldn't be here," Ember explained.

Since they seemed to get stuck here Danny coaxed them on with an "Okay . . ."

Ember sighed with a roll of her eyes meant for Skulker since it was clear she was going to have to be the one to say it. "There's rumors that the Fright Knight plans to wake the Ghost King," she stated plainly.

"What! Why?" Danny asked with his eyes wide.

"The rumor is that he says that the King was his best ally and therefore his best chance at getting to do anything worth-wile," Ember further explained.

"This is not good," was all Danny could say.

"Well duh," Skulker put in, "why do you think we-"

Ember silenced him with a look.

"There's more," she stated.

"Joy," Danny said dryly.

"He also heard about a future where you were his master. Do you know anything about that?"

"I might," Danny replied evasively.

Ember rolled her eyes but continued, "So he wants to pit you against the King to see which of you is more worthy of his servitude."

"Great."

"Oh and he wants revenge. On Vlad," Ember added hastily.

"Even better."

"Is it true then?" Skulker spoke up.

"Is what true?" Danny asked, turning his flashing green eyes on Skulker.

"That you're trying to rehabilitate Vlad," Skulker said, unfazed.

Danny sighed, "Yes."

Skulker raised a metal eyebrow, "How's that going?"

"Fine. Although this isn't going to help," Danny said, growing annoyed as the impact of the news set in. "Argh! We so do not need this right now!" he complained.

"There's some good news," Ember offered.

Danny looked at her hopefully.

Ember took a deep breath. "This time, we're offering our help before anything goes down. And by we I mean a lot of the ghosts back in the Zone, not just Skulker and I. So if you've got a plan . . . we're willing to be a part of it." She finished with a small smile.

Danny smiled back with a smug look on his face.

"It's not cuz we like you or anything," Ember said, quickly returning to her usual feisty self, "it's just that we don't want to be ruled by the Ghost King and a lot of us don't want to see the Fright Knight serving you either." The way she emphasized the word "a lot" made it clear to Danny that she included herself in that category.

"That's . . . understandable." Danny seemed to get lost in his thoughts for a moment. He looked back at Skulker and Ember. "Well, thanks," he said and turned to walk back to the RV.

"Wait!" Ember yelled, the annoyance in her voice only too obvious.

"What?" Danny asked, faking innocence as he turned around.

Ember crossed her arms and gave him a look that said, "You know what."

"Don't worry," he said coolly, "I'll let you know the plan when it's time. I know where to find you."

"As opposed to telling us now?" Ember wanted to know.

"I haven't come up with anything yet, I have to check on some stuff with some people," Danny answered vaguely.

"He doesn't believe us," Skulker decided.

"No," Danny was quick to insist, "I just . . . look just trust me ok?"

"Why should we?" Skulker asked, raising one eyebrow again.

"I'm the good guy, remember?" Danny teased and with that he turned around and got back into the RV as did Jack.

"You okay?" Jack asked his son.

"Honestly, no," Danny said with a sigh. He looked at his dad's confused, but trying to be comforting expression. Danny half-smiled, "I guess I've got some more explaining to do."

Jack put his hand on Danny's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Yes, you do."

Before you ask, no, this was not Jack's chapter. I'm very sorry to say that I don't see time to write happening until after Easter weekend:( Hopefully, that won't be true, but I don't want to promise anything after this chapter took me all weekend instead of just Friday night like I thought it would!